BALTIMORE—After failing to prevent Broncos cornerback Chris Harris from completing his 98-yard interception, Joe Flacco lay on the turf for a few moments, his head buried in plastic grass and rubber granules.

As the Broncos celebrated the longest regular-season interception return in club history, Flacco knew what it meant. In 13 seconds, Harris had turned a potential touchdown and 10-7 halftime score into a 17-0 deficit that the Ravens never seriously threatened. A third consecutive loss will lead to more questions about whether the banged-up Ravens are capable of anything more than a quick playoff exit.

Meanwhile, Harris, who had jumped the route on Anquan Boldin and read Flacco's eyes so easily, took the Broncos in the opposite direction—to their ninth consecutive win. What we learned from Sunday's game:

1. Denver's run persistence paid off.

"Balance" has been uttered so often by John Fox, Peyton Manning and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy that you could start a Broncos news conference drinking game with that word—and be passed out within 20 minutes. That meant the Broncos kept trying to run, even when it wasn't there.

In the last two weeks, the Broncos' often laborious run game finally bore fruit. Not only did Knowshon Moreno post back-to-back 100-yard games—as many as he had in the first 3 1/2 seasons of his career -- but the Broncos have a play-action game that can be taken seriously. That's why Eric Decker found himself in single coverage against Baltimore's Cary Williams.

Manning's play fake caught the Ravens off guard, and he hit Decker in stride for the 51-yard touchdown that effectively ended the game.

McCoy refers to play-action as the "third phase" of the Broncos' offense. As the playoffs near, it might be their most deadly.

2. It's as much about defense as offense in Denver.

For all the justifiable chatter about Peyton Manning's transformative effect on the Broncos, their defense entered the game ranked just as high as the offense in total yardage—fourth in the league. But as the Broncos' offense opened by going three-and-out on three of their first four possessions, Denver's defense was so dominant that it didn't allow a first down until 7:38 remained in the second quarter, by which point the Ravens were already behind 10-0.

Denver's run defense has been the league's best since Keith Brooking became the starting linebacker in Week 6, and that bore itself out against Ray Rice, who was limited to 38 yards on 12 carries and never had the chance to operate in space. Denver doesn't even have to bring safeties forward to counter the run, so they can capably guard against the pass and aren't caught off guard in play-action.

3. Baltimore has too many injuries to succeed.

Without Marshal Yanda, the right side of the Ravens' offensive line crumpled and then collapsed completely, placing Flacco under duress most of the day. Flacco was only sacked three times, but was constantly hurried into errant throws, which kept his completion percentage at 50.0. Terrell Suggs returned to the lineup, but appeared nowhere close to 100 percent. Ray Lewis' return was delayed by a week because his triceps muscle had atrophied during his extended absence on injured reserve. By Sunday's end, the Ravens had also lost wide receiver Torrey Smith to a concussion.

The finger of blame for Baltimore's struggles can be pointed in myriad directions, but it has to start with the injuries that have decimated the club and left them inert and unable to move the football consistently until the game had long been decided.